The Alternative Album Chart: The best new indie albums this week
It has been a week of highs and lows: Rod Stewart has announced he is going to leave rock ‘n’ roll behind in favour of swing, finally finding his muse at the age of 78, but sadly, the spat between Noel Gallagher and Matty Healy has rumbled on, continuing the most lacklustre feud in music history. But while the news might have been muted, the releases have been a feast for the ears with something epic for country-curious fans, a songwriting ditty, and solid slop of post-punk.
As the summer arrives and the albums come in a flurry, it is becoming apparent how the current social climate is moulding present music. We’ve had a huge diversity in the releases of late, with more range in the album charts than you would’ve found in previous eras. It is as though too much is going on in the world for a consensus to be met and a succinct ‘scene’ arrived at, so we have been blessed with an array of individualism as artists follow their own muse and hope for the best.
That has created a summer feast of diversity perfect to unwind within this sunny spell. With that, the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald come to mind: “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.” And I feel myself concurring with Henry James, who opined: “Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
So, without further ado, let’s look at the perfect accompaniment for those summer afternoons in question: indie music. We’ve got handpicked new ones from This Is The Kit, Squid, Jenny Lewis, and Keaton Henson for you as we look at the finest releases this week.
The best new indie albums this week:
Careful Of Your Keepers – This Is The Kit – 4/5
The brainchild of Paris-based bandleader Kate Stables, This Is The Kit, energised fans earlier this year with the announcement of their forthcoming studio album, Careful of Your Keepers. The album, deftly produced by Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, is finally upon us. The previewing singles, ‘Inside Out’, ‘More Change’ and ‘Stuck In A Room’, promised great, stirring things.
This Is The Kit have returned with a real beauty in Careful Of Your Keepers. The music flows seamlessly throughout the album, with Stables’ enigmatic lyrics painting vivid imagery unique to the beholder. The ethereal, imaginative lyrics are intensified by virtuosic instrumental and productional command, leaving only one very minor criticism. Some of the tracks are somewhat similar to one another, leaving a full album with variety befitting of an EP. The music will likely put you in an indie trance, however, so any dramatic tonal or stylistic transitions might’ve been a jarring shock to the system anyway. (Words: Jordan Potter)
Joy’All – Jenny Lewis – 4/5
‘Psychos’ is one of the year’s finest singles, and it will remain so when December comes around. This poppy epic welcomes you into Jenny Lewis‘ new album Joy’All with the same sanguine aura of parting the curtains to a sunny dawn. It happily sets the tone for what follows. Inspired by a songwriting masterclass by Beck, her fifth solo album sees her reach a sense of liberation that allows the songs to swagger from genre to genre, dole out earnest life lessons, and have a ball—all safe in the knowledge that they have a safe structure to return to.
With punchy moments interestingly coming in on the off-beat and the toplines falling in and out of syncopation, the tracks provide blissful backdrops that keep renewing your attention on what she’s saying rather than just the luscious sound in very clever ways. But above all, the reason she will now be the country star sneaking into your record collection is the irresistible catchiness of the songs. With her sultry tones and siren-like lull, these tracks draw you in like the smell of a bakery with two quid in your pocket and time to kill.
O Monolith – Squid – 4/5
Rising to prominence in 2019, Squid cemented themselves as an essential part of the UK’s blossoming post-punk scene, partly thanks to their impressive on-stage energy, buoyed by lead vocalist and drummer Ollie Judge’s intense, frenzied performance style. Their universally acclaimed debut album, Bright Green Field, hit number four on the UK Album Charts in 2021, and now they’re back with their second effort, O Monolith.
The new record proves that Squid are more than just another band in the overpopulated post-punk revival landscape. O Monolith is considerably more developed than Bright Green Field, and their daring dip into a darker, heavier and more dynamic territory has paid off. At times the songs begin to sag under the weight of their intended repetition, and Judge’s occasional collapse into the comfort of his distinctive old singing habits can sometimes grate. Regardless, O Monolith is still an excellent album that demonstrates significant growth and experience. (Words: Aimee Ferrier)
House Party – Keaton Henson – 3.5/5
Keaton Henson’s own website simply sports the message: “He is a musician from England who doesn’t like to talk about himself.” And yet this musician, writer and visual artist’s shunning of the spotlight is the antithesis of some grovelling creatives like J.D. Salinger. Henson is effuse with sensitive expression, and his latest album House Party proves that.
Everything is sweet and luscious on this delicate indie album. However, while it still might be too saccharine for some, a slight grunge undertone to the production helps to subvert his twinkling tones and adds a ruggedness to the sincerity on display. His subdued backstory also imbues the album with a sense of depth, as though he is extolling his inner thoughts with heartfelt enthusiasm thanks to the encouragement of the buoyant music.
Paranoïa, Angels, True Love – Christine and the Queens – 3.5/5
French singer-songwriter Christine and the Queens has returned with his fifth album PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE. In 20 tracks, Chris takes inspiration from Tony Kushner’s celebrated 1991 play Angels in America to philosophise on divinity, romance, anxiety and faith. In essence, he looks to encapsulate life in all of its guises with big, emotive backbeats.
The album is wide and cinematic from its first track, which features a bold spoken word section from Chris, who utters: “Welcome to the light, from where I stand everything is glorious”. The short opener introduces listeners to the album’s concept – its deep soundscapes, glam rock influences, divine lyricism and theatrical feel. Chris rightly dubs it “a love letter to the world and the heavens that encapsulate the fever of life”. (Words: Elle Palmer)
Social Lubricant – Dream Wife – 3.5/5
Punk rock has been undergoing a bit of a resurgence over the past few years. From the punk aesthetic growing more and more relevant by the day to people like Machine Gun Kelly adopting the sounds for his tunes, the sound of rebelling against authority has been just as much in fashion in the rock scene today as it did when people still put safety pins through their cheeks. Amid every other rock band on the scene, Dream Wife has brought one of the best elements of the genre back into the mainstream: riot grrl.
Though this is an album of many different faces, it never stops being engaging from back to front. Even with the great songs that have come from it, Dream Wife seem to be on the road to something much bigger in the future. There’s a band ready to explode hidden somewhere in here, but only time will tell when the potential goes from modest success to supernova. (Words: Tim Coffman)
Girl with Fish – Feeble Little Horse – 3/5
Pittsburgh’s scuzzy noise-rock band Feeble Little Horse have moved to the indie label Saddle Creek for their sophomore effort Girl With Fish, and it finds them assured and growing into a more honed entity. However, this refinement still finds them almost impossible to place. The witty and acerbic lyrics find counterpoint with the heartfelt poppy way they are crooned; the pop-punk sense of melody finds itself constantly overhauled by a heavy wave of fuzz.
Beautiful moments like the sweet opening to ‘Heaven’ whisks itself towards a grungy close of strange dissonance. And all of this is emblematic of a record that does exactly what it wants at every turn. It disregards, well, just about everything, and while that might be a touch maddening, ultimately, it gives you a fine flavour of the reckless abandon of youth.
Space Heavy – King Krule – 2.5/5
After two years of recording and preparation, jazz punk indie rocker Archy Marshall, better known by his stage name King Krule, has dropped his fifth studio album, Spave Heavy. Written in the spaces between Marshall’s commute to and from London between his domestic life, Space Heavy is all about the in-betweens of life. With co-producer Dilip Harris, Marshall crafts a singular journey that is just as fascinated by the mundane downtimes and liminal spaces of life as anything “important” or “interesting” that might be happening.
That kind of openness will appeal to plenty of people who just want to put on a long piece of music and zone out while they do chores, blow smoke, and pick lint out of their belly buttons. For those who want to feel some kind of connection with the music they’re listening to, King Krule doesn’t meet you halfway. Space Heavy is a rabbit hole with no coherent logic and a ton of bizarre and fascinating vignettes strung together. Most of the time, that’s enough, but it keeps the album from ever being more than the sum of its disjointed parts. (Words: Tyler Golsen)
